Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Who would have thought knotty, spotty, globular knobs of fungi like these could be so divine? White truffles from Alba are in season, and if you haven't tried any, you should soon as the season is ending.

Who here doesn't like IKEA? OK, I see some chickens don't, and I can see why. It really looks like we can't get enough of IKEA's fried chicken wings. They move close to 25 tonnes of these each month from the Tampines outlet alone! TWENTY FIVE TONNES! Yes, in Singapore, the wings outsell the world famous Swedish meatballs.

I learnt those astounding facts from a special tour that IKEA Tampines held for bloggers. We also found out many other insider and interesting facts, thanks to the two IKEA veterans who led us through the outlet.

Yes, the festive decorations are out in full force. The store displays help inspire ideas on how to use their products. IKEA actually visits real homes to get a sense of the dimensions, and plans the store displays accordingly. Some of the best store ideas also come from employees instead of designers.

IKEA likes you to try out its products to your satisfaction. Most of us know the Sleep Studio lets you test out the mattresses to see which fits you best. But we tend to just test it by sitting and bouncing on it. The best way is actually to fully recline on the mattress. Yes, they want you to do that. Go on, don't be shy!

At IKEA, they try to make reduce materials wastage. The LUSY BLOM cushion, for example, makes use of leftover materials from quilts for its filling. The bedding materials you see in the background? Notice that they are generally off-white in colour, as IKEA does not use any optical brighteners, thus reducing the amount of chemicals that you'll have in contact with your skin.

Here's a list of about 80 improvements IKEA has made over the years. There are so many areas: forestry and wood, cotton, climate change, emergency relief, food safety, elimination of harmful materials, sustainable living, renewable energy, social initiatives, prevention of child labour, transport logistics, and waste minimization.

And under social initiatives, there is the partnership with UNICEF. For every soft toy or kids' chicken nuggets meal that IKEA sells, it will donate one euro (about S$1.75) to help educate kids. This was started in 2003, and since then, the effort has raised 35.2 million euros (S$61.6 million) benefitting more than eight million children in 40 countries.

(Pssst...the children's section in IKEA is my favourite!)

IKEA is one of my key retail therapy sources. Even when you buy something small, it just feels good.

But I confess I have way too much IKEA stuff at home. I should start a photo album to document every item I have, just for the fun of it. I might shock myself.

My hubby is a serious audiophile, so this post is dedicated to him and his craze for earphones.

When I first held these AKG K3003 earphones, they felt like precious gems. Yes, very beautiful S$1,599 gems. But it was only when I put them to my ears that I realised how priceless they are. It was like stepping through a portal into a magical realm, where you can still see things happening around you but you're in a crisp sonic cocoon. So cool it was, I couldn't help putting them on and taking them off a few times, just to experience that transformation. The sound is seriously clean and with incredible detail.

The K3003 are the world's smallest three-way reference class earphones. It comes with three pairs of sound filters for neutral reference, high boost and bass boost.

They are painstakingly handmade in Austria. Each earphone housing is finely chiseled from one piece of brushed stainless steel, so it's a solid piece that won't break at the seams (because there are none). Inside the housing is a work of mad precision and audio engineering excellence. It's a masterpiece with features and performance that have wowed some reviewers who have admitted it's one of the best. See it unboxed here.

Check out what other local bloggers have to say on the OMY.sg K3003 microsite, and then go have a listen for yourself at Stereo outlets at ION Orchard (#B4-23/24) or Plaza Singapura (#04-06). One of us will get to win this, and voting starts tomorrow! What an amazing Christmas present it will be!

Hubby will also give me his take on the K3003 later on. I am also going to do a giveaway of one of the three AKG ear/headphone sets (with warranty intact) that I received. I'll be putting up the reviews soon (first one here). So watch out for that!

Hubby liked best the Kheema Pav from Yantra. It's like murtabak on a bun!

My personal favourite was the pan-fried Kurobuta pork belly with daikon and star anise by by Francois Mermilliod of Absinthe. The flavours are very Asian, and blend well with the caramelised fatty goodness melting in your mouth.

I guess the brunch is a good way to sample in one convenient location what the nine restaurants offer. It also gives you the opportunity to meet the chefs who were personally there, diligently dishing out their specialties, and explaining what's behind each delicious morsel.

My only hope is that for future events, we can have air-conditioning! The heat and humidity can really kill your appetite!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Kunihiro oysters: large, plump and juicy here, raw on the half shell. Soon we can look forward to more of these in Singapore restaurants. Kunihiro Inc., the largest producer of oysters in Japan, has appointed Toyo International Trading as sole distributor here.

Friday, November 18, 2011

The power of location. At KU DÉ TA, the view from the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands is simply unbeatable. Up there, 200m in the sky, everything takes on a majestic aura as you survey the city below. And now you can have a lazy brunch here stretching from 9am to 3pm on the weekends.

The setting of the restaurant is quite cosy, and almost feels like someone's home (well, someone's rather posh home). I love the long wooden table upon which they lay out the savoury goodies. It just says, "Let's feast!"

You can also start with desserts. And you should, because desserts here are probably the best things they do. Chocolate chip meringues, canelés, strawberry mousse, tiramisu, strawberry marshmallows...

But of course, for me, cheese counts as dessert too. They come with the usual dried fruit and nuts. Croissants and danishes lie close by.

Next to the cheeses, you'll find the cold cuts, including some very nice parma ham and melon!

Little rolls and crisp mini baguettes with butter and jam.

A DIY soba station (obviously well-ravaged). And yes, salads if you must.

But these are just the little things you can amuse yourself with as you wait for your a la minute orders. I like that most of the dishes here are made that way, and not sitting in buffet warmers.

And there's plenty on the menu to try. The dishes are meant to be shared, but ironically, that does not mean huge portions. In fact, they encourage you to try many little things.

Coffin Bay Oysters with citrus mignonette, tosazu jelly. Free-flow oysters = win, for many seafood-crazed locals. These were a little on the briny side, but really fresh.

What's brunch without eggs? You can choose Eggs Benedict, with paris ham or manuka-smoked salmon (I love the mushrooms). Or two eggs done as you like, with applewood-smoked bacon, duck and potato hash, plus garlicky beef sausage. The eggs baked in claypot with shakshuka sauce were sold out - I wonder what that would have been like.

Next time, I'd love to try the grilled yellowfin tuna steak, and the kaffir lime marinated tiger prawn skewers.

Chicken-fried Steak & Eggs. There is no chicken in here. It's a beef steak fillet coated with herbed and spiced batter, and deep-fried as you would chicken. OK, this is one dish that comes in a huge portion, so one order should feed quite a few!

Executive chef Dan Segall likes to play around with Asian food, so you'll find Japanese or Chinese influenced dishes on the menu. Left: braised Australian Black Angus beef in house-blend curry (thick and rich but not enough spicy heat for me). Centre: 'Forty flavour' fried rice (now this was quite spicy, oddly enough). Right: assorted vegetable tempura (part of the several vegetarian options).

Soba (from the DIY station) in a broth that's pretty strong on mirin, and definitely not watered down.

Waffles - plain version with maple syrup, or "inspired" - could be with chocolate or even beef sausage!

Pity there's no ice cream to go with the waffles, but you do get smoothies!

Cherry Choco Smoothie - chocolate and cherries go so well together.

Lychee Coco Smoothie - now this one I like! Lychee, coconut milk and yoghurt. There are also kiwi pineapple smoothies, mango banana smoothies, Oreo shakes, mocha vanilla shakes. The buffet also includes various tea and coffee selections, soft drinks and juices.

It's a great place to bring the family. Kids under 6 eat free!

After brunch, it's nice to take a stroll on the observation deck (which normally requires the S$20 Skypark charge).

The six hour brunch starts from S$68++ for adults, and S$38++ for kids aged 6-12. You can choose the cocktail or champagne version, for a bit more.

Given that the festive season is coming, surcharges will apply for those holiday weekends: Christmas Brunches (24th and 25th Dec, 10am to 3pm) and New Year’s Day Brunch (1st Jan, 10am to 3pm).

This year MINDS has teamed up with 18 Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) to give 5,000 Christmas Stocking goodie bags to disadvantaged or intellectually disabled children/adults. The MINDS Christmas Stocking Challenge 2011 (see Facebook page) would really appreciate your sponsorship of S$10 per stocking and they hope to get as many as possible by 15 Dec 2011.

Each of these stocking goodie bags will be produced and packed by the intellectually disabled adults in the MINDS Sheltered Workshop program. The proceeds from your sponsorship will go to them as allowance for their livelihood.

So you will benefit two parties by your gift. The stocking producers, and the stocking recipients.

There is no minimum required. Even one stocking will do. If you are schooling, ask your friends to band together. If you are working, ask your colleagues if they will join this. Ask your boss or HR department if they'd like to contribute. Or simply ask your friends and family to help in this good cause.

Just go to the website, download the sponsorship form, and send it in with your cheque. Or you can head down to the MINDS office at 800 Margaret Drive with a cash sponsorship (Mon-Fri; 9am to 5.30pm).

You can indicate the VWO you prefer the stockings to be given to, or let them allocate. Here are the VWOs involved, (info from the sponsorship form; click for larger photo):

I'm going to the office tomorrow to give my sponsorship for ten stockings. I know, times are tough for many people. My family's finances are at their tightest ever, but there are always those who have even less. Sometimes unimaginably so. Low-income families for whom a 90 cent piece of chocolate is off-limits (see story that inspired the MINDS Christmas Stocking iniative).

And every week at Nadine's school, I see kids with all kinds of conditions, in limb braces, wheelchairs, oxygen tubes, hearing aids, and occasionally, some really esoteric medical contraptions. Tired as I am, I really should not complain that Nadine is always running recklessly all over the place. Because she can.

Nadine's school (Rainbow Centre Margaret Drive) is not in the list of beneficiaries, but the Yishun branch is. So she won't be getting a stocking, but the kids there did get S$200 worth of Kit Kat recently, thanks to a blog contest by Hpility who so graciously let me win.

It doesn't matter whether you believe in karma or Christmas. Whatever little we can give, let's just do it.

Just leave a comment and tell me which one of the events looks most interesting to you. I'll draw a winner randomly, so everyone has an equal chance. You can also comment on the Camemberu Facebook page for an extra chance. Closing date for draw is noon, 17 Nov 2011. The winner will be notified via email, so please either leave me a valid email (you can space it out like "m e [ at ] m a i l . c o m" to avoid spammers) or use a Blogger ID that leads me to an email address.

RESULTS Update: I weeded out duplicates and non-participating comments, so I have 29 from the blog and 14 from the Facebook page, making a total of 43. The winner is PhilPham, from the Facebook section! Congratulations, and thanks to everyone for participating!

The WRX is part of The World Gourmet Series gastronomic extravaganzas organised by Peter Knipp Holdings Pte Ltd (PKH), which also includes World Gourmet Summit and Awards of Excellence.

You'll get to sample flavours from 20 of these local shops at Singapore's first ice cream bash happening next weekend (19-20 Nov; 5-11pm) at Clarke Quay. If you are a DBS/POSB cardmember, flash your card for a free scoop. Join in the chili chocolate eating or "guess the ingredient" contests, and check out the ice cream and food pairing competition - what flavour do you think goes best with chili crab or satay?

Friday, November 11, 2011

Yes, let's continue with our bar-hopping adventure at Changi Airport that began with dinner and drinks at Hard Rock Cafe. We covered seven locations across three terminals (inside departure and transit area)...and we have some 26 drinks to show you. Obviously, I do not recommend you imbibe all of them in one sitting. But it's good to know you won't be short of options after checking in or during a layover.

There are more than 100 F&B outlets at Changi Airport. Have I told you I love the airport?

After dinner, we dropped by the Singapore Straits Bar at Terminal 3. It's near the Hard Rock Cafe.

The bar is a cosy place with pool table and live band. As it's owned by Harry's Bar, the drink menu is pretty much the same. You probably are familiar with Harry's - they are everywhere.

And yes, there is a Harry's Bar at Changi Airport too, at Terminal 1. The setting is the lovely Cactus Garden, which features over 40 species from all over the world, including exotic blooms and prehistoric Cycads.

This is the line-up we had at Harry's Bar (L-R): Dirty Harry, Dry Martini, Margarita, Singapore Sling, Jungle Juice. We liked Jungle Juice a lot - a winning blend of banana liquer, Malibu, Midori melon liquer, lime juice and pineapple juice. The bartender also mixed for us a special Cointreaupolitan (first photo above). It's Cointreau, cranberry and lime, flavoured with a slice of orange peel that the bartender set aflame briefly to release the citrusy aromatic oil.

Changi Airport seems to have everything. There is a swimming pool in the transit hotel at Terminal 1, and you can pop in for a drink beside the cool waters. It's free entry even if you are not a hotel guest; you only pay to use the pool (S$13.91 nett per person, includes one drink). They have a very sweet Singapore Sling here, along with stiffer drinks like Johnny Walker Black Label and brandy.

Over at Terminal 2, there's Hari's Pub or Bar, not to be confused with Harry's Bar. It's tucked away at the back. Smokers will probably find relief here too, given the smoking room.

The house beer is surprisingly delicious! It almost tastes like honey, really smooth and easy on the palate.

Drinks from Hari's Pub (L-R): Limelight, Fuzzy Navel, House Beer, Negroni, Green Ice. The Negroni is quite strong, but it also comes in a "lighter" version mixed with soda. Green Ice is pretty nice. But the beer still reigns.

Not too far away is O'Learys Sports Bar, where you can drink and dine surrounded by sports memorabilia and TV screens. There is also an O'Learys at the Singapore Flyer, I believe.

Food is always a good idea with drinks. We went for their signature chicken quesadillas to line the tummy.

Kir Royale at O'Learys. Cassis-spiked champagne.

The last stop is the Tiger Signature Bar and Lounge at Terminal 2. Clever of Tiger to set up here and give an international audience a taste of Singapore brew.

Tiger Crystal and their version of the Singapore Sling, which the bar claims is close to the original.

More food. Drinking is a good excuse to eat greasy food! Mixed Platter: Cheese sticks, chicken wings, fries and onion rings (or were they calamari? By this time all is fuzzy).

We passed by the Movie Theatre that screens all day, all night. Next time, I'm checking in 24 hours early...

Changi Airport is also lush with nature. In addition to the Cactus Garden, there is a Fern Garden, Orchid Garden and interestingly, a Butterfly Garden (a world's first) at Terminal 3, which even has a 6m waterfall. The lifespan of butterflies is really short - just a few days, so pupae are brought in from Penang regularly. You can even view these pupae and see the butterflies emerge.

And while you eat and drink, feed your phone some juice too. Little lockers with chargers - what life-savers! Especially if you haven't tweaked your new iPhone 4S to not drain its charge so quickly.

Incidentally, November 2011's theme for Fabulous Fridays at Changi Airport is liquor. Spend a minimum of S$30 by VISA or S$60 by any other means, and enjoy the featured product of the week at a special rate - up to 90% off! Plus the Millionaire Draw is back.